This conference — especially
designed for supply teachers — is an opportunity to draw on specialist knowledge and network to share best practice.
The app is completely
free for supply teachers, and while schools are required to pay an annual flat fee, dependent on the number of pupils, it will dramatically reduce spending; saving some school budgets around # 10,000 annually.
Staff sickness is a major issue for any school and, with the average daily charge to
schools for a supply teacher being as much as # 100 higher than the daily pay rate for the absent teacher, costs can escalate quickly!
Conference calls upon the National Executive to continue to campaign for models across the UK which
guarantee for supply teachers: (i) national pay and conditions; (ii) access to the Teachers» Pension Scheme and (iii) access to professional development.
There will always be a
demand for supply teachers to cover absences, sick leave, and to meet other short and medium - term demands.
Currently, there are few
options for supply teachers when looking for work, and as such, 77 per cent of supply teachers stated that agencies were their primary route for job - hunting (NUT survey, 2016).
«We start dealing with schools looking
for supply teachers at 6.30 in the morning and I often stop answering calls at midnight.
I want to congratulate the NEU in Wales who have forced a review of the school categorisation process and accountability measures and are pushing the Wales Assembly on a better
deal for supply teachers.
The new Crown Commercial Service
framework for supply teachers, which has been developed in conjunction with the Department for Education, recognises that there must be some consideration for recruitment firms, which pour time, energy and resources into sourcing and screening talent.
To enable teachers to have time away from school, the Government should invest # 5.8 million ringfenced
funding for supply teacher cover
I think it is worth mentioning that Teach First place their participants in schools which are struggling to recruit full time teachers, so would otherwise be
paying for supply teachers (also a cost to the government).
We recognised the need to give the control back to schools and help them find supply teachers without the substantial associated costs and, likewise,
for supply teachers to find work without having to forgo large portions of their salary.
For supply teachers, being paid by the school directly means that there aren't any hidden commission or finders» fees impacting their wage, and they also have the potential to join the Teachers» Pension Scheme, so that their flexible arrangements aren't ignored when it comes to planning for the future.